Siren's song
by Ican'teven1776
Summary: Ezekiel is the kind of guy who thinks for himself and does what's best... For himself. Until he meets a siren. Can he free her from her cage without being trapped by her song? Or was this duet just meant to be?
1. Chapter 1

We were on our way out, barely escaping with the artifact from the main building of the serpent brotherhood. I was with Cassie and eve was with Jacob. We took seperate roots hoping that we would cause confusion and escape easier. I froze. There was something wrong. I couldn't leave.

"Ezickel? What's wrong?" Her words barely registered. I handed her the artifact.

"Get it out of here and meet with the others, I need to go back..."

"Ezickel?"

"Go!" I ran back in, thru the halls, confused, not even sure where I was going. I knew when I found her. Dark black hair, deep green eyes, pale skin and ruby red lips. She was locked in a room, a strong barred door in front. I easily picked the lock, I opened the door and started towards her.

"Stop. Don't come in!"

I didn't stop. My only thought was getting to her, freeing her, saving her, being her hero. I kneeled beside her.

"Are you alright? " she sighed in response. My face dropped. I had upset her.

"I'm a trap." The words sunk in. I looked at the open door, how could she be a trap?

I tugged her to her feet trying to pull her from the room, she lazily followed behind. When I reached the entrance I was thrown back by a forcefield.

"That wasn't there before..." I touched it with my hand and it pulsated an electric blue.

"It's a one way forcefield. You can get in, but as long as it's active you can't get out."

My mind was returning, no longer acting on instinct.

"You're the trap?" She sighed again and sat against the wall, she patted the floor beside her. I eagerly joined her and listened attentively as she explained.

"I'm half-siren. I was born of a human and a siren. I don't have fins but can still lure men to their deaths. As I have now lured you. It's not like I'm even trying, I told you not to come in. I didn't want to trap you. I just radiate an irresistible pulse that calls men to me. Everyone of them wants to please me to help me or save me from whatever predicament they think I'm in. It's stupid. You know how many men have tried to marry me, it's impossible. Now my father will kill you."

My mind was blurring whenever I looked at her so I looked at the wall as we talked.

"Your father?"

"You've met him, I'm sure. He leads the serpent brotherhood. He fell in love with my mother once when he ship was lured by the sirens. She seduced him but instead of killing him like she had planned she mated with him. I was born. Being a half breed I couldn't live with the other sirens. My mother snuck my father and I off the island where the sirens lived, fearing they would kill us. My father was evil, as I learned when I grew. When I was a child I was given everything I wanted, irresistible even as a child. My father soon developed a patch, sort of like a nicotine patch, that allowed you to resist my 'charms'. He has all his men wear them. When I began to take a more womanly shape he locked me away, luring men to their death whether I wanted to or not. You'll be the tenth librarian I've killed by luring you in."

Before I could respond Stone was at the entrance, I tried to call to him to stop him but it was to late. He ran to her, just as I had. I sighed and she put her head in her hands, her porcelain doll-like then explained again.

"So we're just trapped here until her dad comes to kill us?" Stone yelled. He threw himself against the forcefield, only to be thrown back with equal force.

"Think smarter, not harder Stone." Eve appeared outside the door. Cassie was beside her.

"Okay, if their going to kill us, they have to be able to get us out first right?" Stone asked the siren, who's name I'd learned was Jade.

"Yes, but the only time it's deactivated is when the guards come to kill you, they have a special key card that let's them in and out without being trapped." Jade sighed. I hated hearing her sigh.

"Okay. So we make them come before they know we're here! We have the advantage." Eve countered.

"How will the guards come?" Asked Cassie.

"Do you have a way to call them? Like if you need something?" I asked Jade.

"No, they feed me twice a day. Other than people like you showing up I don't see anyone much."

"How long have you been down here?" I asked incredulous.

"A long time..." She looked down.

"Wait, Sirens sing. That's mostly how they lure in their prey. I mean there is the natural pull which her dad accounted for. But, they didn't account for a sirens song." He looked at Jade. Jade shrugged.

"My dad never let me sing, even when I was young. He told me it was evil, that my voice would hurt others. But it was him who was evil."

"Will you sing for us Jade?" Cassie asked.

"I'd love to help you, I don't want any of you to die, but I've never ever sang before, I don't know any songs.." Jade looked down sadly.

"Singing comes naturally to a siren. If we taught you a song it should catch on pretty quick."

Stone started a low melody and we all joined knowing the song.

"Nothing's gonna hurt you. No ones gonna dare. No one will desert you, not to worry Ill be there"

We started the song but stopped when jades angelic voice took over. As she sang I became transfixed, only she existed, only she mattered. The walls dimmed to black and the people blured out of existence. It was just me and her. We sat under a spotlight, the only light their seemed to be and although the blackness went on forever I felt no need to explore it. I just sat and watched her sing. Her lips moved with such elegance. I didn't want her to stop but I couldn't help myself. I leaned forward towards her body closer and closer. She didn't seem to notice. She didn't notice until I touched my lips lightly to hers, forcing her to stop singing, then the blackness brightened and the people appeared, I saw stone sitting oppisite of me watching her. The room was littered with bodies, unconscious, no doubt by Cassie and Eve. Every male guard had come to Jades aid and been knocked to the ground one by one. I let myself fall against the wall. It was more than I'd ever expected, that small, light, kiss. My life was complete. I could die now. Suddenly I was pulled from my trance by a slap on the wrist. There was a patch where I had been slapped. The anti-siren patch. I looked at her, she was still just as beautiful. She bit her perfect lip and looked on me sadly.

"It's alright ezieckal. You were under a spell." She whispered. Had she thought I'd kissed her because of the trance of her song. Maybe I did. I don't know, I know I would do it again.

"Come on, let me get you out of here." I reached for her hand but she withdrew it.

"My father will be here soon." She tried to explain, I didn't understand.

"Then I guess we'd better hurry." I reached for her hand to no avail.

"If we take her with us, were more likely to get caught." Baird said.

"So?" I felt another slap this time on my forearm it was another anti-siren patch.

"It's not working." Stone said frustrated.

"I snapped out of it as soon as I got the patch. You're still caught by her spell. I don't get it."

"You can't save me Ezekiel. You can only die trying." She looked away.

I felt arms pull me to my feet, I fought. It was Baird and Stone, they pulled me from her. I kicked and screamed the whole way out of the building. I thrashed and moaned loudly the whole way back to the library. When we got there they let me go and I rushed for the door only to have Stone push me into a seat.

"Let it go." He told me. Jenkins came in from his study.

"What's all the ruckus?" He asked grumpily.

"This idiot met a siren and won't stop trying to get to her." Stone told him. Jenkins looked me in the eyes and nodded knowingly.

"Not just met. You kissed her." He observed.

"So what?" I asked not caring how he knew.

"It's how Sirens lock in their pray, they kiss them so the prey will follow them until they are hungry, the she kills him." He said handing Stone a book on sirens.

"She was only half siren does that change anything?" Stone asked.

"Changes everything, a full siren, nothing I could do, he'll just keep trying to get to her. Half siren, a little bit of seaweed water and he'll be good as new."

I sat there chained to the chair as the forced me to drink seaweed. It was awful. I didn't feel much different. I still wanted her, I still craved her. But now, I could think, maybe get her a safer, smarter way. And I calmed enough they set me free.

"Why isn't he disillusioned?" Stone asked angrily, looking at Jenkins.

"Because, he was never illusioned in the first place. He's in love with her. True love, the most powerful force there is. Nothing will keep him from her now. You'd better just let him to her." Jenkins left back into the study.

"Alright, I'm coming with you." We both started for the door. Jenkins came out with a book on true love.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Stone."

"Why the hell not? You think I'm letting him go into the serpents layer alone? You're crazy!"

"He felt the pull of true love immeaditly. She didn't. Perhaps because she's half siren. The point is for her to feel it he needs to save her. Alone. He must rescue the princess from the tower where the wicked witch keeps her. Or in this case, from her father who will no doubtably kill her for betraying him."

Kill her? Stone was problely going to protest but I was already gone.


	2. Chapter 2

I set off an alarm in the east corner so the guards would all run there. I followed her pull until I was outside the door of a large office. I listened outside the door. I heard Dulaque speak first.

"Will she be satisfactory?" He asked in an almost bored voice.

"Yes. Half-Siren, she will be a fine edition to our group as well as the perfect queen for our king."

"And when King Titan falls?"

"She will be the wife of the leader of the new underwater world. The queen of Atlantis."

"And the trident?"

"Will be given to you in thanks for your help and resources."

"Then I will help in any way I can, my daughter will serve as a liaison between our peoples.

They will be married to seal our partnership. Have the arrangements been made?"

"Yes sir. King Darren will be coming to land for the wedding tomorrow."

Wedding? Queen of Atlantis? I would never see her again. Against my better judgment I threw open the doors. Inside was a man with webbed feet standing across from Dulaque. Next to Dulaque stood Jade. Her head had been down but she looked up when I opened the door. She frowned at me. Dulaque clapped his hands and put an arm around his daughter who flinched slightly at the touch.

"It appears my dear, despite the mysterious escape of the librarians yesterday, you've managed to trap one anyway." He went to the desk they were standing in front of and pulling a key from his jacket, unlocked the top drawer. He pulled from it a long, black, wooden box, it looked like it had water damage. He handed the box to Jade.

"I was going to save it for your wedding, darling, but I think now would be an appropriate time."

She pulled the lid off. Inside was an ornate dagger, adorned with blue and green jewels.

"It was your mothers. She used it to kill her prey, you have lived your whole life more like a human, than a siren. As queen of Atlantis you will need to be more of a siren. You have lured him in, killing him is the only logical step." Dulaque told her.

She took the dagger in her hand and twirled it in her fingers. Then she placed back in the box.

"Father, Ezekiel is not my prey. He's just another foolish man who fell for me. Foolish enough to return. Let him leave father. It is of no use to you to see him dead." She pleaded with him.

"It is of use. You need to start killing on your own or you will never survive in this world. Do not name your prey, it makes it harder to kill them." He pulled the dagger from the box and put the box on the desk. He thrust the dagger in her hand.

"Kill him." He ordered.

"Yes, father." She headed towards me with it. Only one thing came to mind, only three words left my lips. I knew they would be the last words I would speak and I knew it was the only thing I wanted to tell her.

"I love you." I told her. It felt like nothing I had ever experienced saying that to her, to anyone, for the first time.

She stopped short. She looked back at her father with a questioning look. He laughed loudly.

"Tell me Jade, what do you know of love?" He asked her.

"Love is evil. Love killed my mother. Love is foolish. Love is lies. Many men think they love me, that they would do anything for me, but they are only fooled by my siren half. A siren can never have love, because they do not know what is real and what is magical trickery, created by my siren D.N.A.. Love is a fairy tale written into history by fools, and only fools believe in it." She said as if she was reciting it.

"Very good, Jade. Why don't you ask him before he dies what he believes he means when he says he loves you. Listen to him babble on your beauty, listen to him promise you the world, hear him betray himself with the lies "love" has told him. Then when you realize what love really is, what I have always told you it is, stab the fool through the heart, watch him die still thinking he loves you, until that final moment of his life when your spell fades and he realizes how ugly you really are." He said this with a detestable smirk on his face. Jade turned to me and did as she was told.

"Tell me of your love for me. Prove to me you aren't just a fool." She almost looked like she wanted me to prove it, wanted me to discredit her father, but most of her knew it wasn't possible.

"Love is not as your father says. Love is not being drawn by your pull, by your beauty, although you are beautiful. Love is not giving you the world when you ask for it. It is escaping with my life and returning despite unavoidable death if I do." I pulled up my sleeves to reveal my arms covered in siren patches.

"Love is putting so many of these on that I could resist a full siren, that women are not only repulsive to me but kind of terrifying. So many that I would probably run in terror at the sight of a female but still thinking you are so much more beautiful than your father gives you credit for. Love is standing still in front of you, when I could run and save my life, love is staying here and letting you kill me, without running, without fighting back, because I would rather die at your hand than leave and never see you again. So, kill me Jade. Kill me knowing what love is. Kill me knowing I will love you until my final breath. Kill me knowing that my last thought will be of you. And I wouldn't have it any other way." With that I closed my eyes and waited for death.

I heard a scream, but I quickly realized it wasn't me screaming. As I opened my eyes I was being dragged down the hall only getting a glympse of Dulaque pulling the ornate dagger from his stomach. I ran with Jade hall after hall until we reached a dead end, a short hall with a locked door at the end. I tried to pick the lock, I could do it, but it was going to take a minute and I had no idea what was behind the door. Jade leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling.

"Tell me more about love, Ezekiel." She said softly.

"I will. When we get out of here. There are hundreds of books I can give you, all about love."

"I never learned to read..." She murmured.

"Then I will read them to you." I stated blankly. I was trying to get the lock open before the guards caught us.

"It isn't any use. That door leads to an empty room." She told me. I opened the lock.

"Not anymore." I pushed open the door to reveal the library, or at least the annex. She stepped through with wonderment, I followed her and shut the door behind me. I looked around the room to see Stone and Baird practicing different fighting stances, Jenkins reading a book on sirens and Cassandra doing what I could only assume was advanced mathematical equations in her head.

"Hello?" I asked.

Baird looked up a second and Stone nodded at me.

"Hey Ezekiel." Baird said absentmindedly as she put Stone in a choke hold.

"I just went into the serpents brotherhood. I retrieved a person. And she's still breathing! I got out of there alive, and I brought her back alive! You'd think I was at the store buying milk! None of you were worried? Not even Cassandra?!"

Jenkins handed me a white envelope without looking up from his book. It had Jade's name on it. Jade was currently running around looking at books, holding them upsidown and trying to figure them out. Of course.

"Came right after you left, just sort of fell out of the ceiling." Stone grunted as he broke the hold and threw a punch at Baird only to be blocked.

"The library knew before anyone else you would both be returning." Jenkins told me.

"She's been chosen." I looked over at Jade who was biting into a peach Cassandra offered her. She smiled at me when I looked at her. Her perfect lips parting slightly to reveal pearly white teeth. I had never really spoken to the library, I kind of felt you were truely crazy when you started. Here goes. Call me crazy.

"Thank you." I whispered


	3. Chapter 3

Jenkins P.O.V.

Ezekiel had taken Jade to Paris for lunch, prodded on by Stone who insisted that after being locked up for so long she ought to see the world in all it's beauty, he wanted him to take her to a museum and feed her at an overpriced cafe within, but Cassie told him Paris was more "romantic". I saw my opportunity and I took it. As soon as the door slammed behind them I gathered the group and spoke my mind.

"You need to be careful around Jade." I said gravely.

"Why?" Cassie asked.

"Tell me, what do you know about Jade?" I questioned her.

"She's half-siren, she's really pretty, she's Ezekiel's soulmate. The library chose her to stay here but she's clearly not a librarian and certainly not a guardian so we still don't know why the library chose her." She babbled off the things she knew.

"Is that all?" I prodded further.

"She's Dulaque's daughter." Stone chimed in.

"You're not saying she's dangerous?!" Baird asked.

"Jade was born from a mistake. She was a victim of circumstance. But she was still raised by a monster." I explained.

"She isn't anything like her father.." Cassie said clearly upset.

"Are you sure? Ezekiel said she stabbed her father in order for them to escape. Her father. Maybe he was a horrible father, maybe she hated him. He locked her away and never let her out to even stretch her legs. I wouldn't be surprised if she hated him. But he raised her, he cared for her, he protected her. Even if he didn't do a good job of it. He is all she ever knew, her whole world revolved around him. She then stabbed him and left with Ezekiel as if none of that had happened. Does that sound right to you?" I asked them.

"A father is still a father. Tell me now, is she anything like him?" Baird demanded.

"He did raise her. Anything she knows she learned from him. I'm not saying that makes her just like him, I'm not saying if she is like him we can't influence her, change her. I'm saying, for now, she can't be trusted. Don't let her away from Ezekiel. Being her soulmate he should be able to change her the most. And don't give her a situation where betraying you or hurting you would be in her best intrest, we don't know yet how she would react. As Dulaque's daughter, she could be capable of anything. What I'm saying is, be careful."

Ezekiel P.O.V.

Jade and I sat in a cafe in Paris with a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. I ordered a bunch of bready type things Stone had told me were good. Jade had ordered fish, snails, and more fish. After we finished eating I wasn't quite sure what to do... I'd never been on a date before... But I had been to Paris.

"Jade? Would you like to steal something with me?" There were thousands of expensive things to steal in Paris. Jade looked up from fiddling with her empty snail shells.

"Steal?" She asked. "What is steal?"

How to explain this?

"It's a game. Where you take something of someone's, but you don't tell them what you're going to take or when you're going to take it. Then you never give it back. And sometimes you sell it to someone else so it's harder to find." Yeah, that explanation sucked.

"What if they find out you took it?" She asked tilting her head at me.

"Then you lose the game, lose what you took, go to prison and possibly die... It has it's risks.." This is not going well.

The waitress came by and took our empty plates. I was getting more nervous. A theif is what I am, it just is.. What if she didn't like who I was?

"Do you... want to play?" My heart beat grew faster as the seconds slowly ticked by.

She held up her hand. In it was a heart necklace with the name "Sasha" engraved on it. Our waitress was a Sasha.

"Let the games begin." She said with a soft smile.

I pulled out her chair and took her hand, happily leading her to a nearby museum. Time for a little shopping trip.

Baird P.O.V.

After we discussed possibilities for Jade, containing her or changing her or returning her to her father, all keeping in mind how any decision would impact Ezekiel, we still didn't have an answer. If we knew why she was here, what the library was thinking, that might be a start. I was getting a headache. Then a familar voice rang out from the front of the annex.

"Honey, I'm home!" The voice was followed by rushed footsteps and a smiling face popping around the corner. Flynn.

"And what hour do you call this?" I joked. We were only sort of a couple, it was a shaky start but it was getting better.

"The perfect one." He came around the corner to be seen holding a large, old, black box. Something was glowing inside it like it would burst.

We all crowded around to look at it.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Is it... A magical, secret thing, nobody knew existed but you?" Cassie wondered.

"Is it a bomb?" Stone asked nervously examining the edges.

"Is it a box?" Jenkins joked, uninterested. We all glared at him.

"It's a triple-locked magic box. And I have no idea what's inside." Flynn stated like he'd just revealed a fabulous treasure we could all share.

"Triple-locked?" I asked, knowing he was dying to explain.

"Time, location, person." He said excited.

"Care to expand?" I said, playing into his excitement.

"It cannot be opened until a certain amount of time had passed, in this case one-thousand years. Which will be in just a few minutes. It must be opened within the vincinity of a certain area, which just happens to include the annex. So I thought we could all open it together! And it has to be opened by a specific person. The person must have a particular pre-determined chariteristic. In this case that person must be named "Jade". You have no idea how long that took me to figure out. So... I have legal paperwork, who wants to be a "Jade" for the next few minutes?Cassandra? Eve?" He looked between the two of us excitedly.

No one quite knew what to say. How to tell him. I had sent a letter, that he obviously hadn't received, and he'd been out of cell range. Luckily, no one needed to speak, because the doors to the annex opened. Ezekiel and Jade had returned. Flynn looked up and saw Ezekiel first.

"I knew I was missing something! Where were you kid?" Flynn greeted Ezekiel warmly then noticed Jade hovering by his side.

"Who is this? You know we don't bring outsiders here. Unless the library calls them, no one should come from the normal population." He put his head in his hands then looked up, the excitement returning.

"Wait! Let me guess! You had no choice. You were forced to bring her by some magical force. She was in great peril or something like that and you saved her! Of course! It all fits!"

He walked up to Jade and took her hand.

"You must be Jade!" He told her his excitement bubbling over.

"Yes..." She said nervously, unwillingly leaving Ezekiel's side as Flynn led her to the box he'd placed on the table.

"This could not have worked out better. Just place your hands on the box."

Jade looked at the box, then at Ezekiel, and carefully placed her hands on the box. The shining light got brighter until the lid burst, splintering in all directions. Out flew an eel that had a randomly occurring electric shock pulsating down its back. Flynn followed it amazed as it flew about the room circling our heads one by one.

"What is it doing?" I asked, nervously.

"It's trying to find the one who opened its box. Maybe because it's looking for its master, or maybe it wants to kill her.. We won't know until it reaches her! How fascinating!" He held still as the eel circled his head.

Finally it settled on Jade, circling her head round and round. It made contact, just barely, with her head and slithered down to her arm. We watched it carefully but nothing seemed to happen. Then it bit down hard on her wrist. She let out a peircing scream and fell backward. Ezekiel caught her before she hit the floor. As her eyes closed she whispered something to Ezekiel.

"Jade! Jade!" He cried. "What is it doing?!" He yelled at Flynn.

"It's trying to bond with her. With her being human her chances of survival are slim. If she doesn't live it will probably continue to try and bond with someone, killing everyone not strong enough until it finds it's master. We should probably kill her now, when it's trying to bond it's at its weakest, killing her will destroy it and spare the rest of us." He pulled a small knife from his belt and headed towards Jade.

"Stop." Ezekiel said in a commanding tone that shocked even The Librarian.

"What happens if she lives?" He demanded.

"The eel will be her servant. It should do whatever she asks of it without question. But she's going to die, Ezekiel. She's mortal. And since we all are also mortal we will only have to kill someone else when she dies, to prevent our deaths!" He tried to reach Jade with the knife.

Ezekiel grabbed his hand and twisted it until Flynn was forced to release the knife to clatter on the floor.

"First, she's not mortal. She's half-siren. Second, if she dies I will be next. None of you have to die, kill me when it bites me, and then it will be over, but you must give her a chance." Ezekiel looked Flynn directly in the eyes as he said this.

"Ezekiel, there is no way to know if it will choose you. You're a librarian, who is she, you have responsibilities. You can't sacrafice yourself for a random person off the street! And you certainly can't make that sacrafice for anyone else! It's unfortunate that it turned out this way, but in the end people die every day. She's not one of us! We are running out of time. We need to kill her before it moves on." Flynn sounded frustrated. He didn't understand.

"I'll take her into Jenkins study. If it looks for anyone else it will find me. She deserves a chance." Ezekiel picked her up and carried her into the study.

"She's not one of us! You have responsibilities!" Flynn yelled after him.

"Actually, she is." I told him showing him the letter she got from the library. He held it and sat in a chair. He looked around at each of us.

"You, have a lot of explaining to do." He said pointedly looking at each of us. It was going to be a long conversation


	4. Chapter 4

Ezekiel P.O.V.

I looked at her lifeless body, lying on the floor of the study. I stroked her dark hair from her face.

"I saved you from your father. You saved me by not killing me. I saved you from Flynn. It's your turn now, Jade. Save me. Because if you let that thing kill you, I will be next. Not that it matters much, because you won't be here. But try anyway, save me Jade." I begged.

Her eyes fluttered open. She grabbed my hand and held it tightly.

"I'm scared." She quivered.

"I know." I breathed, relieved she was alive. "Don't worry, I'm sure there's a way to get it off you."

"No, I'm not afraid of the eel. I'm afraid of that man. Of Flynn. I couldn't move, but I could hear. I heard you stop him. He tried to kill me! Severel times!" She said panicked.

"He doesn't know you. He... Isn't good with strangers. Last time strangers entered the library he lost the three things he loved the most. He's been through hell and he's still trying to get them back. He was just trying to save what little he has left. He won't try and hurt you again, not now that the dangers gone. And if he ever did, you know I wouldn't let him."

She nodded, sitting up slowly. She looked at the eel who was pulsating on her arm, it's teeth still linked to her wrist.

"I think I'll name him Jack." She mused.

"Name him? He's a parasite feeding off you! Don't name him! No way, he's coming off."

I reached at the thing, I'm not sure why, it would be stupid and risky to try and remove it on my own. She slapped my hand away.

"Don't hurt Jack!" She said almost offended.

"Okay, we need to go out there now. There are people waiting to see you're okay. You know Cassie will be worried sick. She's probably giving herself a headache calculating whether you survive or not." I told her.

"Cassie!" She yelped, jumping to her feet and rushing to the door. Despite having been here a short while, Cassie and Jade had become good friends. I jumped after her and reached the door where she stood. I took her hand and opened the door leading her out. As soon as we were in sight Cassie thudded into Jade.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" She gushed. She then started to fall limp in Jades arms and Stone pulled her off carefully. He sat her down in a chair and told her to remember the smell of sausages.

"She's been killing herself with the same statistical equations over and over, if you hadn't come out soon she may have fainted." Stone said shaking his head.

Baird and Flynn weren't in the room. Jenkins looked Jade over, carefully examining the eel.

"It doesn't seem to be hurting her..." He mumbled.

Flynn and Baird walked into the room. Flynn looked at Baird walking behind him as if he was making sure everything was okay. He walked right up to Jade and extended his hand.

"Welcome to the library." He said a little too loudly as if he was trying to earn someone's approval.

She looked at me. She was so unsure of everything. So terrified. She needed me. She needed us. I nodded at her, showing her he was safe. Well, as safe as Flynn ever got. She placed her hand in his. They didn't really shake like you'd think they would. Just held their hands together for a second. What they exchanged was much better than a casual handshake. They exchanged trust.

"Okay." Flynn said. "We think that she may be a guardian. To be more exact Ezekiel's guardian. We believe, in time, you will all have a guardian of your own..." He explained.

"We assume the library knew that. Or even planned it. Her arrival, then Flynns. The eel... It was all planned and prepared so she could properly defend Ezekiel." Baird continued.

"We think despite her lack of fighting abilities, the eel, now bonded with her, will fight for her." Flynn told us.

"His name is Jack." Jade spoke as though she was singing the first line of a song in a performance and only just finding her voice.

"Okay. Jack." Flynn smiled at her. "I want you to think of something you want. Better yet, just feel that emotion. Feel desire, feel need, feel want. Concentrate on that feeling and Jack should do, whatever it is you need him to. Go on, try it." He said and we watched with anticipation.

Jade closed her eyes. Jack's tail, previously motionless, flicked back and forth, slowly getting faster and faster. His whole body then began to whirl around, all but the head which stayed fixated to her wrist. It went in a large circle and even seemed to be getting larger as it did. Suddenly it pointed straight up in the air. Without warning it lunged itself at me wrapping around my waist. I was pulled, like it was retracting itself, until I was forced right in front of Jade. I was so close to her I could feel her breathing on me. Apparently she felt my breath too because she opened her eyes in shock. When her eyes opened, Jack unwound himself from me, like pulling on a string and tugging it loose. He returned to his normal size and rested his body on Jades arm.

"Ezekiel!" She said, nearly falling into me.

"Hey, Jade." I responded while steadying her so she wouldn't lose balance.

I heard a deep chuckling from behind me. Rolling my eyes I turned to the source, Stone.

"Guess it's not hard to figure out what she wants, huh?" He said between laughing.

Before I could make a fool out of myself by getting angry at him Flynn interviened.

"Okay, good. Good start. Now concentrate on something in the room, other than Ezekiel..." He told her.

Stone stifled another laugh and even Cassandra couldn't hide her smile. Jade closed her eyes again and Jack took off, he darted to the door-portal where we had left our recently acquired goods. I had forgotten all about them. It picked up a diamond necklace, a ruby bracelet and a gold Rolex watch. It slid them all on its back. It slithered around Jades neck and wrist (the one it hadn't attached itself to.) leaving the jeweled peices on her when it left. The thing then headed towards me. I started backing up but it was quick. It circled my wrist leaving the Rolex there. Maybe this thing wasn't so bad after all. The pick pocketing possibilities alone were endless. Jade opened her eyes and Flynn started clapping slowly.

"With a little practice you should be able to do many things with "Jack". Aiding Ezekiel, defending him... You are going to make a fine guardian." Flynn said, and Jade beamed.

There was doubt in my mind for a moment, but now, everything was going to work out. Everything was going to be perfect. The slow clapping began again but it wasn't Flynn this time. We looked towards the entrance of the Annex, and out he emerged. He must of snuck in without anyone hearing. As he spoke Jade rushed to my side and almost hid behind me.

"Librarians! Terribly sorry for the intrusion. But, I believe you have something of mine."

He looked towards Jade who looked at him with fear, disdain and reverence, all at the same time.

"Father." She spoke as her grip tightened on my arm


	5. Chapter 5

Dulaque P.O.V.

"Jade, darling, it's time to come home now." I said in a sing-song type voice.

"I am home." She said, if I didn't know better I would've thought she meant it...

"We have a wedding planned to King Darren, now I've put it off a while... But the crowds grow restless... It's time to take your place as Queen of Atlantis." I insisted.

"I don't want to marry King Darren." She pouted. Are all children this resistant to what's best for them?

"Why?" I asked, as if it really mattered what she thought. She would marry Darren and I would recieve the trident. It was all planned, she didn't have any say in the matter when we planned it and she didn't have any say now.

"I don't love him." She stated as if this was an important part of marriage.

"Jade, my dearest, you don't love anyone. You don't love King Darren,the guards that feed you, you don't even love me!" I reminded her patiently.

"I love Ezekiel." She told me like she was revealing a large secret everyone but me knew.

I looked from her to the child standing with her, she was clutching his arm like she was afraid he might take off. The boy from my study, the one she had left with. I reached his eyes, they were angry, ready to attack. It occurred to me that she might be holding on to him to prevent him from harming me. Me! Like the little creature could even come close without falling on his face. I'd hardly have to lift a finger and he'd be dead at my side. Children can be so foolish. If I'd told her once I'd told her a thousand times.

"Jade... What have I told you of love?" I waited for her to recite what I'd drilled into her since she was born. But it didn't come.

"Lies. Nothing but lies." She hissed. She was getting angry now.

"Alright, then. Tell me what you think you know of love. What have these simpletons been telling you love is?" I gestured to the other librarians who watched me uneasily, ready to stop me if necessary, but letting me talk with my daughter. I'm sure there must be some rule somewhere about not hurting anyone during a peaceful negotiation.

"Love is... Defending someone you just met, from someone you know and trust." She looked at the boy she was clinging to.

"Love is knowing someone so well that you know how to help them when no one else can." She looked at two of the librarians to my left, a male and Cassandra the girl who mananged to betray her friends to us and still be welcomed back. The male hovered close to her, close enough he could catch her if she fell but far away enough he could easily dodge an attack by her.

"Love is stabbing your father. Love is leaving everything you know. Love is being scared of everything happening so fast, but not wanting it another way because another way would mean I wouldn't be with Ezekiel. Love is... Undefinable. Anyone who tries to define it, doesn't have it..."

It was like she really believed what she was saying. At this point she probably did. Librarians... They manage even to ruin my own flesh and blood with their fanciful ideals. My head went into my hands briefly and I looked up, my eyes resting on the child she had attached herself to. Ezekiel, she called him. It was time to cut her ties with the librarians.

"This child you cling to cannot protect you. He can not even protect himself." I pulled my sword from its sheath. The librarian drew his sword, ready to defend his little pet. I was only interested in Jade today, not getting rid of the ever present pain in my neck.

"Father, no!" Jade cried.

Poor child, so confused, so naive... So completely fooled by recent events, thinking that anyone could take care of her like I have. Setting her up with King Darren was beneficial to us both. I gained the trident and she lived a happy life being adored by her subjects. If she couldn't see that, I would make her see. I swung my blade towards the boy, the librarian attempted to stop me but was far too slow for my experienced swing. Just as I was about to reach the child's neck I heard Jade scream again.

"No!" Her voice seemed to distort and echo as my vision faded and a slight pain in my hand caused me to drop my sword.

When my vision returned I was lying on a beach my sword nowhere in sight. I spit out a mouthful of sand. I wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but I knew who to call. I dialed the number.

"Lamia! I need a ride..." I huffed.

"Sir? Are you still at the annex? Is Jade with you?" She sounded worried. Well, as worried as Lamia could be. She had told me not to go alone. Next time I'll listen.

"No. On both counts." I grew bored.

"What? Where are you?" She acted like she was accusing me of a crime...

"Let's just say... Returning Jade to her position by my side... Will be more difficult than originally anticipated... Use the GPS in my phone to find me..."

I clicked off the phone and sat in the endless sand. I had some thinking to do... Some reconsidering... Some planning...

Ezekiel P.O.V.

As he swung for me I instinctively put my hand on Jades hand that held my arm.

"No!" She screamed as if she was the one about to die. As she screamed Jack darted from her wrist and whacked Dulaque in the arm. He dropped his sword and vanished. Just gone. On the floor was a green sticky blob where his feet had been. Flynn examined it closely.

"Is he dead?" Stone asked bluntly, not caring much for Jade, who was whimpering by my side, now with both arms completely wrapped around my arm.

I tried to pry her off to get a closer look at the blob, but that only caused Jack to wrap around me holding me in place. I knew she was only half in control of his actions but... Seriously?

"No. I don't think so. I think this is some sort of transportation residue. You know how when you go through that door, and there's kind of a stick? It's small, and you easily get used to it, don't even notice it any more. But that first time you go through? You kind of feel it. Anything you touch when transporting will have a little residue on it..." He picked up the sword Dulaque dropped.

"Yep. This is sticky too... Jade transported him. Incredible... Just out of curiosity... Where did you send him?" He looked at Jade, who had calmed considerably.

"I, I don't know." She sounded confused.

"What we do know, is he will be back. He's not just going to give up." Jenkins stated coldly.

"And next time he's going to bring friends..." Baird commented.

"We need to analyze what it is he wants in order to take that away from him." Flynn began. "So let's start with the basics... He was here, why did he come here?" He questioned us.

"To get Jade, obviously." I stated.

"Why does he want Jade?" Flynn continued.

"He doesn't love her. He doesn't believe in love." I scoffed.

"Okay, he doesn't love her, Dulaque doesn't operate on love. He really doesn't care about her so he needs her for something, something to aid him in the goal of returning magic to the world..." Flynn almost muttered to himself.

"Her marriage to King Darren! If she married him it solidifies their partnership to overtake King Titans throne. She's what makes Dulaque stand out against anyone else who could aid them." Baird said what all of us were thinking.

"With her gone, so is King Darren, and Dulaque loses his chance at the trident, which he wants for whatever reason. It's not going to be a good thing whatever he's getting at." Stone said.

"You can't stop Dulaque." Jenkins mumbled.

"No, but we don't have to. We just have to stop the wedding to King Darren. If Jade can't marry Darren, the agreements off right?" Flynn countered

"But, like we keep saying, you can't stop Dulaque and he'll take Jade and force her to marry this Darren guy." I looked around the room, everyone seemed to know something I didn't. And then I got it...

"Um. No. Nope. Not happening." I resisted.

"Come on, man, it's just a piece of paper..." Stone said.

"What? Are you crazy? This is not happening." I backed away from the group and Jack let me go.

"Simple. A small ceremony, sign the documents and it's over quick!" Flynn insisted.

"Is anyone listening? This is not happening!" I cried in vain.

"No, because it's not Dulaque we are fighting, it's King Darren. We don't need secrecy and speed, we need a large open ceremony that will make it undeniable that they wed and will stop anyone from disqualifying it, so King Darren will never be able to find a loophole to use to marry her anyway." Jenkins said like I wasn't even there.

"Hello!? Do I even exist anymore?" I yelled desperately

"What's going on?" Jade looked at me for guidance, the only one in the room not planning my wedding.

Suddenly a strong hand grabbed my shoulder and thrust me towards the backdoor.

"Come on, Jones. You need to find a ring." Stone pushed me forward.

Before I could protest I was being thrown through the door to lord knows where. Just as the doors closed behind us I heard Jades confused voice.

"Cassie, where is Ezekiel going? And what does he keep saying "is not happening"?"


End file.
